1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to semiconductor processing equipment, and more particularly to interfacing with a process controller for such equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
As technology advances, it is desirable to upgrade obsolete equipment to provide faster, better, and more reliable operation. However, the upgrade of such equipment often comes at the price of a necessary reconfiguration of the operations environment. Often, it is undesirable to make changes to the operating environment due to the inherent danger of modifying mission critical system components. This danger is especially evident in the field of semiconductor processing, where a small change may upset a carefully configured system, resulting in decreased yields and other manufacturing defects. This risk causes many end users to be hesitant to upgrade their systems and instead accept problems and limitations of obsolete hardware. In particular, these limitations are found in the input and output interfaces of such semiconductor processing equipment. Modification of the input and output interfaces requires an update to system software, which presents a large risk to users who have carefully configured systems.
Accordingly, the inventor has provided an apparatus to provide a remote access gateway to wafer processing equipment that may facilitate providing a transparent upgrade path to the end user of the device.